I’d leave them, too. They are useful, along with lacewings. Are you just leaving them to perform their magic?
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Noticed a tiny black knat fly out of the soil the other day while i was raking the topsoil. I try to do that a few hours after watering to loosen it back up so the top inch or two dries out good.
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So, what’s your response, My Friend?
PS: I had to think about why they would be in my plants right now. It’s not their natural habitat really. It’s cold and frozen, right? That means at high noon, humidity will increase and hang around longer since the daylight is shorter (even if we are playing Creator in our bubble). Hell, I’d head inside to warm earth, too. It surprised me.
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Yep every fall they swarm buy the 10s of thousands on the sunny sides of buildings looking for a way in. They are more invasive than cockroaches. In the house i use a shopvac to clean them out. Probably get a few thousand a year in the house. They stink if touched so i can hardly stand vacuuming them but they got to go when in the house. Swarming usally lasts a week or so. Thousands can find there way into a musqito proof home.
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I’m so glad we had this conversation!!! Guess what sets in that window? Thank you!!!
Will mosquito nets work?
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If i could get one big enough to cover my house cheap enough i would definitely try it. But i have not really been trying to keep them out of the grow room. Just keeping there numbers manageable in there. Since it stays warm in there they dont hibernate and die off pretty quick from lack of food.
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Huh. I actually know where I might have a source for such a thing. I’m just not sure with everything going on they would have made it here, but it never hurts to ask for future reference.
I’m with you on just keeping it manageable. I allowed a spider to reside in my tent. She kept things tidy. Of course, what was in there is for me so I’m a little less stringent on things.
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Just an update for anyone interested. Foliar fed some cal mag. Put 3 tablespoons of oyster shell around each plant. Mixed half and half greensand and FF marine cuisine and fed 3 tablespoons per plant. Watered it all in with some fish emulsion X kelp X molasses water and all the plants are looking good again. Really surprising how fast things can go bad.
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Well 3 weeks have gone buy and now I am seeing some of this.
things that have changed are we are now in bloom. I fed Alaska bloom fertilizer a few days ago at 1/3 recommended rate. Added DE 2 days ago to help with fungas gnats. And have been trimming out undergrowth for the last week or so. tops are looking good just older inside leaves showing this pattern. Was going to feed some more flowering feed but figured I would check first. No need to nuke them by accident. Anyone have some advice? Ps that white glaze is milk residue from a mold outbreak last week when we left the humidifier on during lights out.
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My Gelato is doing that, but it’s because I left them in 1 gal pots. Since you are recovering, that soil needs to be dried out a little more, I would think. Have you gently ‘tilled’ up the earth and applied a natural silica based fix? Most people don’t, but it helps me, I have found. I had a horrible time with fungus gnats a while back and now I’m all over it. It’s probably that middle layer of medium that’s affected. I wouldn’t feed them again until the watery influence is fixed. According to my almanac, today is a good ‘Fruiting’ day and after 6pm CST and all day tomorrow is a good ‘Rooting’ day. Good time to fix it.
They are in 5 gallon buckets. The roots are to thick to work the soil more than an inch deep. I put 2 cups of dimatatious earth on each plant 2 days ago. I am having to water most of the plants 1/2 gallon of water every day or two. If i try to go 3 days they wilt down pretty bad.
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@Jared that looks like a possible potassium and magnesium deficiency. Ph test your soil first to make sure it isn’t PH lockout and if it’s in healthy ranges go to 1/2 strength bloom nutes and add some calmag. Should bring everything back tip top. Also what are your day and night temps? Extreme temperature fluctuations can cause lock outs too especially if the root zone temp is dropping under 65f.
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Sweet i was thinking along those lines myself. Added a teaspoon of calmag per gallon this morning. Will do the same tomorrow with a dose of 0-10-10.
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Temps are 71 night 81 day unless it is really cold out then the day temps stay under 80. I have a backup propane wall heater so night temps never go below 70.
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@Jared alright man. Sounds like you’re golden. Just don’t forget to ph test the soil at the root zone before you go adding nutrients because if ph is out of range adjusting nutes can make it worse until you correct the ph.
You’re ph testing your waterings and feedings too and making sure they’re between 6 and 7 right?
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Yes all waterings and feedings are between 6.3 and 6.8. I will dig some soil up tonight and try a slurry test before watering tomorrow.
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@Jared schweet! You got this man. Glad you nipped that mold too before it got out of control. Happy growing brother! 
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I used the milk and water treatment yall have recommended to others and it worked like a charm. Just wondering if pouring that mix on the soil would kill the fungus that the gnats feed on?
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@Jared yeah. I always feed my extra milk solution to the soil. It will kill harmful bacteria and fungus and feed the beneficial bacteria and fungus in the soil. Milk is a miracle gardening tool. Just wish I could get my hands on raw milk to use in my garden because raw milk is the most effective thing I have ever used on my garden for mold and mildew issues and the soil loves it.
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@Jared the DE should help get rid of the gnats too. If all else fails nematodes work the best and you can get them fairly cheap at arbico organics. That’s where I get my nematodes and beneficial soil predators etc…
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